Examples of known carriers for paint trays or pans are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,549 issued on 19 May 1992 to M. J. Villiano and Canadian Patent No. 2,160,168 issued on 27 Jan. 1998 to Guy Samson. The carrier includes a single upstanding arm which extends over a paint tray, when in use and a coupler for coupling the arm to the tray. The coupler described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,549 comprises a clamp which acts between the underside of the tray and the upper edge of the tray wall. The coupler disclosed in CA 2,160,168 engages with a special receptacle provided at the end of a paint tray and which is accessible from above. This document also discloses an alternative coupler comprising a pair of vertically spaced clips which clip to upper and lower edges of the side wall.
However, known paint tray carriers have various drawbacks in that they are either incapable of securely and reliably connecting the carrier to a tray, or they require a tray which is specially adapted for coupling to the carrier.